The high school members of St. Michael’s Faith in Action youth ministry program have had plenty of opportunities to shoe faith in action recently.
The youth of St. Michael parish in Bradford joined other Catholic Churches in the New Albany Deanery recently in the Faith in Action Service Week.
The area high school youth lived together at Mount St. Francis and performed service work in area counties. They also learned about Catholic social teachings that come from the Gospels.
Several areas were part of the Faith in Action volunteers.
They were:Mount St. Francis - The kids repaired and reset trail marker posts on trails in the sanctuary, and two new culverts were installed on trails. The area around two religious shrines was cleaned up.St. Mary Church in New Albany (Hispanic Ministry) - They assisted with the vacation bible school at the church for Hispanic families in the parish.
St. Michael Bradford Religious Education Director John Jacobi said that although language differences were present, the “one thing we had in common was our faith. Our faith brought us together.”Lincoln Hills Health Care Center - They visited with residents at Lincoln Hills, and made home made ice cream for the residents too. They also sang songs, played games, and danced.
“The residents were so welcoming to us,” Jacobi said. “They really took to us.” Floyd County Youth Shelter - A mural was painted by the kids on a wall in the shelter’s library. New Albany area artist Ashley Cecil helped out. The group also cleaned and painted shelves in the library.
Jacobi said they started the mural over form scratch, and used a grant she had received.Faith in Action Home Crew - This group varied from day to day; each parish Faith in Action group took turns cooking and cleaning for the other Faith in Action crews. They also worked on a mosaic at Mount St. Francis.
As Jacobi put it, the home crew was the “hospitality” for the other Faith in Action crews working
Jacobi said, “Faith in Action is a wonderful opportunity for high school youth to give back to the community in our own local area. It’s a joy to work with young people like these youth.”